Hiking with The Hazel House

I am always looking for places to hike near Dublin city. I discovered a really cool place in the Dublin Mountains called The Hazel House, which is a café, Irish craft shop, petting farm and woodwork school located on Mutton Lane, Tibradden, Rathfarnham. On the last Saturday of every month, The Hazel House provides guided mountain walks (approx. 2hrs long) followed by a tasty lunch of any sandwich from their menu with tea or coffee. Dogs on leads and kids are welcome too. The meeting time is 10am at The Hazel House and any number of people can join.

There are a number of trails to walk. Our guide Ciarán took us along a route with stunning views – the weather was perfect.

When we reached the top of Tibradden Mountain, Ciarán told us about the hidden ‘treasure’. Hidden beneath some rocks we found an old tin box containing some trinkets left behind by other hikers. A few random things like small toys, a comb and short messages by people visiting from various parts of the world. We returned the ‘treasure’ to its hiding place as we found it and headed back along a different route.

Our lunch was waiting for us when we reached The Hazel House. I had the delicious chicken pesto sandwich, a hearty serving on a proper white roll. We sat outside in the yard surrounded by wood crafts and flowers.

The venue was opened in 2014, owned and run by Niall Fitzharris, a carpenter and furniture maker by trade. When it first opened, an ‘honesty box’ policy was adopted, which meant that visitors could help themselves to teas, coffees and baked goods and then pay an amount of money that they deemed appropriate for the goods consumed. This enabled the owner to work in his workshop without interruption. Fast forward a couple of years and the House has developed a café with menu (and cash register) and a number of woodwork courses for adults as well as courses and camps for kids. Kids’ parties are also available and include one of three activities such as a woodwork party, a paper craft party or a planting and gardening party.

The café interior is a delight. I love these kind of places. The owner’s passion for woodwork is obvious and there is a lovely warm, relaxed atmosphere. Outside there is plenty of seating and the occasional passing hen! There is also a traditional clay pizza oven that the owner made himself and regular Pizza & Wine Bar nights take place throughout the year. There are Classic Movie nights too. What’s not to love about this place!

Before checking out the petting farm, I popped into the craft shop to see the wood crafts. The hazel wood reindeer were my favourite!

The petting farm is adorable. Visitors are asked to make a small financial contribution to an ‘honesty box’ so they can take some vegetables from a basket to feed the animals. There are a couple of sheep, a donkey, a Shetland pony and a pig. My nieces aged 13, 11 and 9 fleeced me for money to feed the animals, but knowing that the money goes towards supporting the farm animals it was totally worth it. The girls loved it and they also had a go on the tree swing.

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The Hazel House is only a 25-minute drive from Dublin city centre, I love this place – we need more places like this. I wish the owner and all involved the very best for the future. I will definitely be back soon. Well worth a visit.